What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Learning what "perfect happiness" means to other people. I love it when the ordinary, the habitual, and the insticual are reinterpreted. The last time I experienced perfect happiness was in Hanoi. "Breakfast" to me means a quick espresso at home, but in Hanoi, I observed it to be a communal experience filled with storytelling, Pho, drinking egg-coffee.
What person from history would you have dinner with?
I'd have a dinner party. With those, I miss my father, my brother, my grandmothers and grandfathers, as well as MLK, Marx and Darwin
What is your greatest fear?
My greatest fear is being trapped by fear itself. Those I admire most are not the fearless, but the fearful who find a way forward. I have friends who are scared of flying but chose to be photo journalists, germaphobes who eat street food to discover new tastes, and perhaps most importantly, entreperneurs who cant afford to take risk but do so every day.
What is your greatest ambition, and what motivates you to pursue it?
My ambition is to build a more compassionate form of innovation-capitalism that delivers life-improving solutions to those that need it the most.
Which living person do you most admire?
Those I love, I admire most. I love all people who relentlessly question. Especially the hard questions of identity and privilege.
Where or who do you get your energy from?
I like to make strangers smile. I don't expect anything back--it's just a random act of spontaneous happiness.
Those I admire most are not the fearless, but the fearful who find a way forward.
How do you decide what to celebrate?
As often as possible. Especially the small things. Even if it is premature.
What do you look for when interviewing someone for a job?
The intersection of empathy and exceptional technical expertise. And the ability to confidently say "I don't know the answer to that question, but I know how I would find out."
What is your current state of mind?
Distracted (always) and focused (always) and optimistic (eternally).
Which talent would you most like to have?
To play the trumpet.
How would you like to be remembered?
For my kindness.
If you were to be stuck on a desert island, what music, book, and item would you take?
I'd take Hugh Masekela "Still Grazing", a book to teach me how to play trumpet, and a trumpet.